Determining the effect of wind on a projectile in flight is important to accurately placing a projectile on a target. The most common method of estimating the effect of the wind for target shooters is with the use of flags along a shooting range. Trained military snipers use external cues such as the bending of grass, the leaves moving in a tree etc. to estimate wind characteristics. Handheld windmeters are used to determine wind direction and speed at the bore of a rifle. However, the big limitation with handheld windmeters is that they only provide information about the current position. Wind is often different from one location to the next, and the projectile may pass through several different wind conditions along its path. If the wind at the shooter is 3 mph left to right, but it switches to 10 mph right to left 100 yards downrange, a left hold calculated at the shooter's position will result in a miss. Military snipers claim that an accurate analysis of wind is the last variable to be conquered using technology suitable for military field use. Other variables such as the Coriolis effect, changes in temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude can be measured with appropriate handheld instruments.
Determining the effects of wind on the landing and takeoff of an aircraft is critical to the safety of the airplane. Even though major airports have the ability to measure wind sheers with complex instrumentation, to date a technology has not been developed to be incorporated into a handheld unit for scientific and Navy operations. Current technology cost upwards of $500,000 for this protection, as a result most small airports do not have any protection.
Thus there exists a need for a line of sight wind detection system that can determine the effects of the wind along the complete path the projectile will travel as well as the landing and taking off of aircraft.